Vala Heritage

by J. F. Jenkins

  Why did I expect any different from him though? Why was I so stupid? “All for the better,” she whispered. Slowly, she would gain her mother’s power and it frightened her.

  It was time for her to finish mourning him. There would be no hope for recovery of her and Anj after that. Even if he decided to take her back, she wasn’t sure if she could ever be intimate with him. The more physical they were, the more infatuated he became, and the more he seemed to lose himself in her. The last thing she wanted for a boyfriend was a slave.

  There was no use dwelling on it. She had enough to deal with already, and didn’t need petty boy problems on top of it all. Why did it not feel so petty? Why did it feel as if part of her was dead?

  She let out a deep sigh, and shivered. All of the crying was making her tired and weak. What should I do? She reached into her bag and searched for her letter. That was the only way she could be close to her family, whom she needed so badly then. The letter was not there.

  “Oh no,” she whispered, frantically searching through every pocket in her bag. Did she leave it up there? More importantly, who was going to find it? She could deal with getting in trouble for going where she wasn’t supposed to, but she did not want her letter getting in the wrong hands, hands that could tell where it had been sent from. There were many spies hidden at the school. Her guardian made sure to remind her of this often.

  Once composed, she stood and casually walked back toward the entrance of the attic. There was a staff member guarding the stairs. The locks would be changed on the door later that night and there would be anti-thieving spells put into place as well, no doubt.

  Cursing under her breath, she left the library altogether.

  Chapter Five

  Rumors always spread like a wildfire through the campus of the Vala School and Seminary. At the beginning of the day, the rumor about Anj had started out as something simple. A new mysterious girl had gone up with him to the attic for some alone time. Apparently she had become disappointed when she found out he was only using her to get back at Jewl and was nothing more than a rebound. By the time lunch had rolled around, the story had changed to: Anj paid a girl to ease his woes, but before anything happened she had a change of heart and left him to deal with the mess.

  He would bounce back from the bad publicity. He always did. There were far worse rumors going around the school, and everyone knew they were only that. Nothing was ever taken seriously, but the gossip was always fun. Since it was a small school in a small town, there wasn’t much else for the students to do to pass the time besides talk. Most of the time, Anj loved the game anyway. Still, when she glanced over at their usual table in the dining hall, Jewl did not see him sitting in his normal collected fashion. He was slouching and frowning.

  Maybe it’s a better idea to sit elsewhere, she thought, searching the room for an open seat. She’d rather sit alone than with him, but there was no place to go. Did she sit there anyway, or did she find one of her groupie-like followers who used her to get close to him? It was Wednesday, which meant Cheyenne would be at the table with Halyn. Denver Collins would most likely be joining them as well. Denver had a way of following Cheyenne around after her classes to annoy her. It was one of the many reasons Jewl liked him. If he was going to be there, then it wouldn’t be too bad.

  She sat down at the table despite Zes’s wide eyes of warning and subtle waves telling her to go as far away as possible. Anj didn’t scare her, but she did keep her distance from him all the same.

  Anj didn’t look up when she sat down or acknowledge her presence in any way. He acted as though he didn’t notice anything outside of his soup as he stirred it in large, slow circles. There was nothing else on his tray.

  Zes shifted and continued to eat. He was back to his normal healthy appetite, which put a smile on her face. His plate had a little bit of everything, and he ate like he hadn’t seen food for a week.

  “I got an A on my paper,” he said quietly, testing the waters for conversation. “You remember the one I was having a hard time with? You gave me all those notes and stuff. The mythology one? I got an A. Mr. Mathys said he was amazed at my work for a change.” He was talking as if Jewl wasn’t at the table. It was probably for the better.

  His brother grunted and nodded his head. “Yes, well, as I’ve been saying since the beginning of the semester Mr. Mathys likes a lot of depth in his assignments. The more research you do, the better. Simply meeting the requirements is not being above average for him. He treats all of his classes as though they were college level which is ridiculous for those poor freshmen.”

  “Yeah, I know. I need to get better with my researching skills. Maybe you can give me some more pointers later.” Zes glanced up when he saw Cheyenne, Denver, and Halyn, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. “Hi, guys, how are you?” He tried to sound as light and chipper as possible, but his jaw was tense and the warning look in his eyes made the suggestion for everyone to be nice.

  “Doing good,” Denver replied in a surprisingly pleasant tone. He smirked, his green eyes dancing around the table from one person to the next before settling on her. “Oh, hi, Jewl.” He put an extra emphasis on her name, watching Anj. He continued, leaning forward a little. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around since the dance. How are you? Did you get my letter?”

  She gave him a warning glare before replying dryly. “Can’t say I did. You do know how to use the post office right?” He must have known something, and was using it just to make the twins angry. Denver lived for making them miserable. For what reason, she didn’t know. The boys refused to talk about it.

  “Duh,” he rolled his eyes. “I’ve been using it since before you were born.” Though Denver appeared and acted like any normal sixteen-year-old boy would, he was much older. No one knew his exact age aside from him and a handful of the teachers. What he was still doing as a student there was beyond anyone’s imagination. People did not ask questions when it came to him. In fact, they stayed as far away from him as possible. Nobody knew what he was, and they didn’t want to get close enough to find out.

  “I wonder, are you referring to the letter I have?” Anj asked. Everyone’s jaw dropped. She had the answer to her question at least, but what was worse? Him having the letter or a teacher? “It’s interesting. Pity she didn’t get to read it. Or keep it.”

  “I need it back,” Jewl said sharply.

  Anj smirked and coughed, kicking his brother underneath the table.

  “Oh, come on, you can’t be serious,” Zes groaned. He glanced at his brother, who in turn looked toward him. While they did not make direct eye contact, the point was still brought across. Zes let out a deep sigh.

  “Anj says he isn’t speaking to you,” he said to Jewl. “And he also says if you have something to say to him, you need to submit it to him in writing, give it to me, and then I’ll tell him.”

  Jewl rolled her eyes and groaned, completely ignoring Denver’s snickering beside her. “Last time I ever do anything nice for you,” she whispered to him, which made him shut up fast.

  She and Denver had an obscure relationship all about making deals. He scratched her back, and she his. It took her a minute or two, but she found the stack of yellow post-it notes in her supply bag along with a pen. She would play Anj’s childish game. She wrote her message carefully before handing it off to Zes.

  “I need it back,” Zes said quietly, waiting for his brother’s response. Anj quickly scribbled his note and handed it off with a proud smirk. Zes read it and sighed.

  “Finders keepers.”

  For the love of...

  Jewl pulled off another post-it and scowled as she continued to appease him. How much longer she’d be able to, she wasn’t sure. It was taking everything in her power to keep from snapping at him. The only reason she wouldn’t was because she wanted, needed, the letter.

  “It’s not yours, and I’d like it back.”

  Everyone waited for Anj’s response. “Maybe if you say the magic word, I’ll
think about it.”

  “Please may I have my letter back?”

  “I thought about it, and no, you can’t.”

  It was like watching a one act play as Zes read each response. Any time he tried to mumble or rush through any of the messages, Anj kicked or nudged him or coughed until it was conveyed to his liking. Then he began writing in gestures and actions.

  “Guys, stop!” Cheyenne said, her voice shaking.

  Zes was bright red. He waited for his next set of directions, seemingly ready to explode on the spot out of embarrassment. He hated being in the spotlight, and the longer the scene continued the more students in the cafeteria started to watch. Jewl scratched out her latest response and replaced it before handing it off to him.

  “I agree with Cheyenne,” Zes read quietly. “This is stupid and you’re acting like a five-year-old.”

  Anj took a long time to reply. After several drafts, and a full sheet of paper, he finally settled on his retort and handed it off to his brother. Zes stared at the paper for several minutes.

  “Pardon me for being bitter,” Zes whispered, wincing as he received another kick from under the table. “Come on, don’t make me do this. I draw the line here,” he said to his brother. Anj leaned in close and whispered something into his twin’s ear. Zes whispered back before clearing his throat and speaking loudly.

  “Pardon me for being bitter. Not only was my heart ripped out of my chest--” the statement included an over dramatic and showy gesture that got everyone in the dining hall’s attention. “--but I got detention for the first time because of your little scene!” Then Zes slammed his fist to the table angrily. “I don’t get detention. Ever.”

  Cheyenne jumped. She glanced over at Halyn then looked back over at Zes. He was sitting with his head in his hands, ready to die on the spot. If there were a place for him to crawl and hide for the rest of his life, he probably would have opted to do it. It was sick and unfair of Anj to put his brother through such torment, especially after his recent trauma. She may have not been Cheyenne’s number one fan, but when Jewl wrote out her response and was about to hand it to him, Cheyenne snatched it from her hands first.

  “Please. Allow me,” she said darkly. The weak, hope-filled smile Zes gave her made Jewl like the girl just a small amount more.

  “Have at it,” Jewl said, sitting back in her chair. She was the one amused as everyone watched Cheyenne. It would be a much more effective message coming from a woman anyway.

  “You should have thought about that before you treated me like some kind of a whore,” Cheyenne delivered stiffly. “If you want to continue to act like an immature jerk, be my guest. Keep the letter. All you’ve done today is prove to the rest of the world what kind of a monster you are, and I won’t have anything to do with it. You want me gone so badly, then you can have it. I don’t need you.” Then unscripted she took her carton of milk and poured it over Anj’s head for added effect before sitting back down.

  Jewl nodded her thanks to Cheyenne as she gathered up the remains of her lunch and all of her school things. As she left the table, she heard Denver’s applause.

  “This is why I sit with you people. I don’t like you, but you’re so funny. You make it worth it.”

  “Morons,” Jewl mumbled under her breath, stomping out. She made sure to make it extra loud with her heels. Men. They’re all immature idiots. She scowled and went across the courtyard to the dorms. The strange boy named Teague was outside of the main door, trying to figure out how to get it to open with his security key.

  “Having problems?” she asked.

  He glanced up at her with his wide, sparkling eyes and nodded. They appeared to have tears in them. “It doesn’t like me. It won’t let me inside. It’s going to rain.”

  She glanced upward at the almost perfect blue sky and raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see any rain coming. Are you sure you got the forecast right for today?”

  “It’s coming and it isn’t good rain. It’s not normal. I need to get inside because I can’t make it go away.”

  Confused, she took his key and opened the door with it. Then she showed him the proper way to use it. “It was backwards,” she explained, holding the door for him.

  “Thanks,” he whispered and ran inside to wait for her in the doorway. He bounced from one foot to another and he played with his hands. “May I ask you a question?”

  “Yes?”

  “C-can you stay with me? Just until the rain passes.”

  Now I’m a babysitter? “I don’t think it’s going to rain. You’re worrying over nothing. But I’ll stay with you anyway until you feel better, all right? Just don’t bug me. I have a lot of homework and I’m having a bad day.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what? You know, you act like you’re a toddler or something. Do you not think before you say anything? Do you think period? I just want to know. Because you’re how old? Fourteen? Fifteen?”

  “Sixteen,” he whispered, wincing.

  He did not say any more as he led her back to his room. At least it was during visitation hours. Not like Jewl had ever paid much attention to following that rule before, but she didn’t want to get in trouble because this boy couldn’t take care of himself. She wasn’t his mother.

  Sixteen? He was a year behind her then. He acted so much younger. “Like I said, I’ve had a bad day.” Why did she feel like she had to justify herself to him? She never cared about hurting others’ feelings before.

  “As for why…” she began but stopped as they stepped into his dorm room.

  The dorms were all the same. They were comfortable, and large enough for all of the students to feel at home while they were there. They came fully equipped with separate bedrooms, a den and a small and basic kitchen. Inside were all of the things a student would need to make a simple meal. Above all else, they were simple in decor. Most of the students had roommates. A handful, like Jewl, lived alone.

  Teague lived alone as well. One of the bedrooms had his few things in it and was almost bare. Quite possibly every article of clothing he owned was strewn across the floor. She could see his empty closet and dresser through the door. The other bedroom was even more barren.

  He didn’t have any movies or books. He could probably pack every item he owned into a backpack in five minutes or less. Not many students came to the school under such conditions. What surprised her most was that he had taken it upon himself to decorate the room to his liking with markers and crayons. Along the walls were murals of clouds, sunshine, cute animals and people who had no faces. The people were disturbing to look at. They were life-sized outlines with ambiguous details. He was clearly trying to fill in the gaps.

  “What did you do to your room?” She blinked a few times, then set her bag down in complete awe.

  “Do you like it? The doctor lady said I should draw pictures because she thinks it will help me remember things better. She gave me colors.”

  “I don’t know if she meant on the wall. Just a hunch,” Jewl said with a snort as she walked up to a wall to investigate a few of the faceless figures.

  “The angel said it was okay.”

  “Whatever helps you.”

  She stared at a group of three faceless people. They were all holding hands. One was a woman and that was about all she could make out. Teague was an interesting artist. His drawings resembled something one step up from stick figures, at least his people did. The animals were significantly better. There was a dog that had such amazing detail, she almost thought it was real. And the way he drew the clouds it was as if they had a personality and story of their own.

  The largest wall of the room was the brightest and happiest of the murals. The people were happy along with a bright shining sun, complete with a smiling face on it. The wall opposite it, however, was nothing but gloom. Intricately drawn tornadoes expanded from ceiling to floor, devouring a lush green land. The grass rained down over a red, desert landscape onto another group of faceless people. She knew the red land al
l too well. He had drawn the underworld.

  “This is…” She couldn’t quite find the thought to describe what she was thinking as she stared between the two walls.

  “Scary,” he said, sitting down on his couch. “It’s okay. I think it’s scary too.”

  “I was going to say impressive art,” she said. Disturbing had been the other word coming to mind, but she decided to be as encouraging as possible. It was a psychological exercise. The boy obviously needed a lot of help. She didn’t want to hinder him.

  “Thank you. Is it okay if I ask why you’re sad?”

  “Why I’m sad?” she returned her attention to him before nodding and taking a seat with him on the couch. “You mean why I’m having a bad day? I got into a fight with someone. They’re being unnecessarily mean to me.”

  “Did you tell them it makes you sad? Maybe they don’t know it’s making you feel that way and they’ll stop and say they’re sorry.”

  “I wish it were so easy. I’m pretty sure they’re doing it to make me sad on purpose because I…” Jewl wasn’t sure how she was going to explain it to him. “I guess they feel like I’ve done something to make them sad. They are trying to get their revenge on me so I can, too.”

  “You should say you’re sorry then.”

  “I tried that,” she mumbled. “He didn’t like it and got more angry. There are too many things between us.”

  Teague tilted his head before moving in to give her a big hug. She hadn’t been hugged for a long time. In fact, it'd been since she had last dated Anj. When he wanted to be, he could be affectionate and caring. Hugging was not a normal thing with her family. It was always awkward. However, as much as it made her uncomfortable, it would have been rude for her to not exchange the gesture. She put her arms around him, but kept as much distance between them as possible.